Brick-trimming machine.



No. 715,909, Patented Dec. l6, I902.

T. M. WALKER &. L. H. WARREN.

BRICK TBIMMNG MACHINE.

. [Application filed NOV. 6, 1900.) (No Model.)

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

THEODORE M. WALKER AND LOUIS H. WARREN, OF DES MOINES, IOWA.

BRICK-TRIMMING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 715,909, dated December 16, 1902.

Application filed November 6, 1900. Serial No. 35,699. (No modeli- To aZZ whom, it may concern:

Be it known that we,THEoDoRE M. WALKER and LOUIS H. WARREN, citizens of the United States of America,and residents of Des Moines, Polk county, Iowa, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Brick-Trimming Machines, of which the following is a specification.

The object of this invention is to provide means for chamfering, beveling, or rounding the long edges of a brick, and performing such operation conveniently and economically in the process of manufacturing the brick and before the same is dried.

Our device consists of a trough or a series of troughs arranged to receive the brick from a cut-off and provided with shaperssuch as knives, rollers, or similar deviceswhereby the long edges of each brick may be chamfered, beveled, or. rounded in the travel of said brick through thetrough or troughs.

Our invention consists, further, in the combination of a delivery-belt, a series of troughs located in the path of travel of said belt, guides overlapping the belt and extending to the initial ends ofsaid troughs and shapers such as knives,cutters,or rollersarranged at the delivery end of said troughs in the path of travel of the brick, which shapers are so formed or arranged as to engage and remove, compress, or shape the long edges of each brick in the travel of, said brick through a trough.

Our invention consists, further, in I the construction, arrangement, and combination of elements hereinafter set forth, pointed out in our claims, and illustrated by the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a plan of our complete machine and includes portions of the delivery-belt from the cut-off of a brick-making. machine and a conveying-belt from which the brick may be removed for stacking. on a truck. Fig. 2 is a rear end elevation of our complete machine. Fig. 3 is a side elevation of our complete machine and includes portions of the delivery-belt and its pulley and pulleysupport. Fig. 4: is a detail vertical section illustrating the means employed to govern the Width of the troughs in use.

detail view of one of the cutters and means employed to mount said cutter adjustably at Fig. 5 is a the delivery end of a trough. Fig. 6 is a detail View of a grooved roller and the means employed to mount said roller adjustably at the delivery end of a trough. Fig. 7 is a detail view of one of the cutters and means employed to mount said cutter adjustably at the delivery end of the trough at right angles to Fig. 5.

In the construction of the machine, as shown, the numeral 10 designates the base or support of the delivery-carrier from the cut-off of a'brick-making machine. A shaft 11 is mounted transversely of the base 10 and carries a pulley 12 within the base.

A delivery-belt 13 is mounted for travel around the pulley l2 and is connectedwith and travels on a pulley (not shown) located adjacent to the cut-off of a brick-making machine. It is common practice to push the brick from the cutting-table to and upon the belt 13 and carry said brick by means of said belt away from the cut-off. As the brick come from the cut-off machine they are damp and of such character and substance that they yield quickly to the drying effects of the atmosphere and set or harden perceptibly in a very short time. Also the brick as they come from the cut-off have square edges and plane faces. It is the practice of some manufacturers to take the brick by hand from the belt 13 and subject them to the operation of a repressing-machine, in which said brick are pressed into slightly smaller compass and the long edges thereof, at least, rounded, beveled, orchamfered. Experiencehasdemonstrated that the brick set very rapidly and the operation of re-pressing tends to break the bond thereof and render them more fragile and crumbly. It is desirable to round, chamfer, or bevel the long edges of the brick to meet the specifications published by city and town councils and the requirements of brick used for street-pavements, bridge-flooring, and the like, such requirements being made on the theory that the rounding, beveling, or chamfering of the long edges of the brick insures a groove or trough transversely of the streetpavement of such depth, width, or general character as to provide a toe-hold for eng'agement with the toe-calks of horseshoes, and thus give more certain foothold to drafthorses traveling upon said pavement. It is to obviate the palpable disadvantage of breaking the bond of the brick and at the same time to provide for the requirements of the specifications above mentioned in respect of the long edges of the brick that we have produced and put in use the present invention. A table 14 is provided and may be supported on a base (not shown) in any convenient manner adjacent to the delivery-point of the belt 13. A center plate or partition 15 is mounted on and rises from the central portion of the table 14. The plate 15 has its forward end projected a material distance from the forward end of the table 14 and overlapping the delivery-point of the belt 13, and this projecting forward end portion of the center plate is attenuated or converged, wedge-shaped, to the central line of said plate. The sides of the plate 15 throughout its length are made smooth and highly polished, and may be smeared with lubricant, if desired.

The rear end of the center plate 15 is approximately coincident with the rear end of the table 14, and the heightof said center plate is approximately the same as the width of the brick treated by this machine. Side plates 16 17 are provided and formed with base-flanges 18 19, extending outwardly in opposite directions from the lower edges thereof. The lower edges of the side plates 16 17 and the lower faces of the base-flanges rest upon the upper surface of the outer portions of the table 14, and the contacting faces should be plane and smooth and rest upon plane and smooth faces of the table, to the end that they may move relative to each other easily under pressure laterally, as hereinafter described. The base-flanges 18 19 are provided with transverse slots 20, and screws 21 are mounted vertically through said slots and seated in the table 14. It is the function of the screws 21 to hold the base-flanges 18 19 in close relation to the table 14 and prevent tilting of the side plates 16 17 laterally. The side plates 16 17 are of approximately the same length as the body portion of the center plate 15 and are of the same height as said center plate. The side plates 16 17 are spaced apart from the center plate 15 distances agreeing with the thicknesses of the brick treated by this machine, and the slots provide means for adjusting the side plates relative to the center plate in accordance with the varying thickness of the brick desired. Theinner faces of the side plates 16 17 are plane and parallel to the opposite faces of the center plate 15 and should be polished to ofier the least resistance to the travel of the brick between them.

Cross-bars 22 23 are mounted transversely of the end portions of the side plates 16 17 and the center plate 15 and are rigidly connected at their centers to the center plate by screws 24 25, traversing apertures therein and seated in the center plate. Longitudinal slots 25 are formed in the end portions of the crossbars 22 23, and screws 26 are mounted vertically through said slots and seated in the end portions of the side plates 16 17. It is the function of the screws 26 to hold the cross plates or rods 22 23 in close relation to the side plates 16 17 and at times lock said side plates against movement laterally. The slots 25 provide means for adjusting the side plates 16 17 relative to the center plate to suit the varying thicknesses of the brick to be treated by this machine. Bed-plates 27 28 are provided and are of less Width than the space separating either of the side plates 16 17 from the center plate 15. The bed-plates 27 28 are mounted horizontally on arms 29 30 of the table 14 and are secured thereto by screws 31 32, traversing said arms and seated in said plates. The bed-plates 27 28 are located between the side plates 16 17 and the center plate 15, and the table 14 is cut away or grooved between the arms 30 31 and said side plates and center plate, to the end that in the travel of a brick slidingly on either bed-plate the lower long edges of said brick will not contact with the table or bed-plate, thus avoid ing a breaking or chipping of said edges in the treatment of said brick by this machine. The bed-plates 27 28 are located in a common horizontal plane and have their upper surfaces plane, polished, and flush with the upper surface of the delivery-belt 13. The forward end portions of the bed-plates 27 28 overlap the delivery-point of the belt 13, and the rear end portions of said plates overlap the initial point of a conveying-belt 33. The conveying-belt 33, a portion only of which is shown, is in common use and is employed to carry the brick to attendants, who remove them therefrom and stack them upon trucks for deposition in drying kilns or ovens. Guide-walls 34 35 are provided of a height corresponding with the height of the side plates and center plates and such thickness as may be desired. The forward ends of the guide-walls 34 35 are pivoted to studs 36 37, mounted in and rising from the base or stand 10 materially in advance of the initial end or wedge point of the center plate 15. The studs 36 37 are also located in longitudinal planes laterally removed from and outside of the longitudinal planes of the side plates 16 17, and the guide-walls 34 35 converge uniformly and at the same angle relative to the edges of the delivery-belt to and are seated in notches formed in the inner rear edges of the side plates. A smooth joint is made between the rear ends of the guide-walls 34 35 and the side plates 16 17, and the inner facesof said walls are flush or coincident with the inner faces of said plates. In some classes of brick-making machinery the cut-0E is arranged to sidecut the brick and deliver said brick side first.

In the use of this machine with a brickmaking machine having the above-mentioned characteristics attendants would be provided to turn the brick for travel longitudinally with the conveyer-belt 13, to the end that said belt would deliver the brick end first to'the shaping-machine, and the guide-walls 34 35 and beveled or inclined faces of the center plate 15 'would operate conjointly to center the brick to the spaces between the side plates 16 17 and to the parallel faces of the center plate. Duplicate screws 38 are mounted in and project rearwardly-from the upper portions of the rear end'of' the center plate 15, and similar screws are mounted in and project rearwardly from the lower portion of the rear end of said center plate. Screws duplieating 38 are mounted in and project rearwardly from the upper portions of the rear ends of the side plates 16 17, and similar screws are mounted in and extend rearwardly from the lower portions of the rear ends of said plates. Each of the screws 38 is screwseated, and the projection maybe adjusted by seating the said screw more or less relative to the rear face of the plate in which it is mounted, and each of said screws is provided with a transverse slot, Fig. 7, of material depth or width in its projecting portion. Duplicate knives 16 are mounted in and extend laterally through the slots of the screws 38 and are held therein and against movement relative thereto by the approximation or tightening of the arms of the screws thereon by means of tightening-screws 54C, seated transversely in and nearer to the outer ends of the arms. The knives are mounted in the slots of the screws at oblique planes transversely of the end faces of the side plates 16 17 and the center plate'15. The knives 46 project across the corners of the spaces between the center plate 15 and the side plates 16 17, as illustrated in Fig. 2. The inner edges of the knives 16, adjacent to the rear end faces of the center plate 15 and side plates 16 17, are beveled and sharpened,the upper knives having their edges beveled upward and the lower knives having their edges beveled downward in order that the plane side faces of the knives may be parallel with the path of travel of the brick through the machine. The knives 46 may be either straight or curved, dependent upon the desire of the operator in respect of beveling or rounding the edges of brick, or grooved wheels or rollers may be journaled in stems mounted in and projecting laterally from the screws 43 and held by tighteningscrews 54, as illustrated in Fig. 6, and the grooved faces thereof may be positioned for engagement with and compression of the edges of the brick in the travel of said brick through this machine.

The screws 21 and 26 may be seated rigidly to fix and determine the relative positioning of the side plates 16 17 to govern the width of the spaces between said side plates and the center plate 15. The brick may be adjusted on the belt 13 by hand to approach this machine endwise and in succession and will be carried by the belt to and between the guidevwalls 34 35 and the beveled or inclined faces of the projected portion of the center plate 15. If the brick are arranged. in rowsand abutting each other in the rows on the belt,

the forward brick will be pushed by the following ones upon the bed-plates 27 28 and between the parallel faces of the side plates and the center plate. Experience has demonstrated that the friction between five brick onedge and the belt 13 is sufficient to force one brick ahead of five through the space between one of the side plates and the center plate against the resistance of frictional contact with the bed-plate, side plate, and center plate and the knives beyond the same. In the travel of the brick on the bed-plates 27 28 and through the knives a small portion of each long edge is sheared 01f, thereby forming a bevel or chamfer on each long edge of each brick .'and said brick are then continued along the bed-plates to and delivered upon the conveyer-belt 33. It will be observed that the knives are located at the rear of and slightlyspaeed from the rearward end portions of the side plates and center plate. This is to insure that thesubstance sheared from the edges of the brick will fall below the machine and not contact with or stick upon the surface of the brick nor any portion of the machine through which the brick are advanced. By making the bed-plates 27 28 of less Widththan the thickness of the brick traveling thereon I provideagainst an accumulationof the substance sheared from the brick on said bed-plates and insure the delivery of clean plane trimmed brickto the belt 33. Of course the belt 33 is driven by gearing from a prime mover and carries the brick from this machine without regard to the operation of the belt 13. In the lateral adjustment of the side plates 16 17 the guidewalls 34 35 may oscillate slightly on the studs 36 37.

It sometimes occurs that the cut-off of the briek-making machine cuts a brick somewhat thicker than normal, and such thicker brick if forced between one of the side plates and the center plate while the side plate was rigidly fixed might crush and crumble or stick in the machine. Hence we have made provision for yielding-pressure devices to hold the side plates yieldingly in relation to the center plate, the construction of which is as follows: Flanges 56 57 are formed on and extend from the outer edges of the table 14 parallel with and to the same height as the side plates 16 17. Bolts'58, eight in number, are screw-seated in and project horizontally outward from the outermost faces of the side plates 16 17 and extend through apertures in the flanges 56 57. Expansive coil-springs 59,

eight in number, are mounted on the .bolts 58 and contact at their ends with the side plates and flanges 56 57, respectively. The expansive coil-springs. 59 tend to press the side plates 16.17 toward the center plate 15 and permit apressure-controlled.outward movement of said side plates. Bolts 60,- four in number, are provided and traverse apertures in thelower portions of the flanges 56 57 and are screw-seated in the outer edges of the base-flanges 18 19. The bolts are formed with heads on their outer ends, which heads normally engage the outer surfaces of the flanges 56 57 and limit and determine the inward movements of the side plates 56 57 toward the center plate 15. It will be observed that the bolts 60 may be adjusted or seated with more or less projection or space between their heads and the outer edges of the table 14, and thus regulate and determine the degreeofexpansionofthesprings59. Bymeaus of the construction just described the machine may accommodate a brick of a thickness slightly more than normal by the automatic yielding outwardly of the side plates 16 17; but it is still desirable to adjust the machine manually for the treatment of brick of material difference in thickness.

Other means may be employed to support and guide the brick or to compensate for the difference in thickness of brick treated at a single operation without departing from the spirit of our invention.

We claim as our invention 1. A brick-trimming machine, comprising a trough arranged to receive brick from a cutoff and means carried by said trough for chamfering, beveling or rounding the long edges of a brick in the travel of said brick through the trough.

2. A brick-trimming machine, comprising a trough arranged to receive brick from a cutoff and provided with shapers whereby the long edges of each brick may be chamfered, beveled or rounded in the travel of said brick through said trough.

3. A brick-trimming machine, comprising a trough arranged to receive brick from a cutoff, guides arranged at the initial end of said trough and shapers arranged at the delivery end of said trough or troughs in the path of travel of brick through said trough, which shapers are so shaped and arranged as to engage and remove, compress or shape the long edges of each brick.

4. In a brick-trimming machine, the combination of the table, the center plate mounted on and rising from said table, side plates mounted on and rising from said table parallel with the center plate and the shapers mounted on said center plate and side plates and arranged to engage the edges of the brick traveling between said plates.

5. In a brick-trimming machine, the combination of the table, the center plate rising from said table, the side plates adjustably mounted on and rising from said table parallel with the center plate and the shapers mounted on said center plate and side plates and arranged to engage brick traveling between said plates.

6. In a brick-trimming machine, the 00mbination of the table, bed-plates on said table, the center plate on and rising from said table between the bed-plates, the side plates on and rising from said table parallel with the center plate and outside the bed-plates,which side plates are adjustable laterally relative to the center plate and bed-plates, and the shapers mounted at the delivery ends of said center plate and side plates and arranged to engage brick traveling on the bed-plate.

7. In a brick-trimming machine, the combination of a delivery-belt, the table, bedplates thereon and arranged to receive brick from the delivery-belt, side plates mounted on said table and adjustable laterally relative to said bed-plates, a center plate mounted on said table between the bed-plates and having its side faces parallel with the side plates, one end portion of said center plates being attenuated or wedge-shaped and projecting over the delivery-belt, guide-walls extending over the delivery-belt and communicating with the initial ends of the spaces between the side plates and center plate and the shapers mounted at the delivery ends of the plates and projecting across the path of travel of the brick between the plates.

8. In a brick-trimming machine, the combination of the table, the bed-plates mounted thereon, the center plate mounted on and rising from said table between the bed-plates and spaced apart therefrom, the side plates mounted on and rising from said table parallel with the center plate and on opposite sides of the bed-plates and spaced apart therefrom, means for feeding brickinto the spaces between the side plates and center plate and shapers fixed to the side plates and center plate and projecting into the spaces between said plates.

9. In a brick-trimming machine, the combination of the table, bed-plates removably and replaceably mounted on said table and arranged to'receive brick from a deliverybelt, the center plate removably and replaceably fixed to and rising from said table between the bed-plates and spaced apart therefrom, the side plates removably, replaceably and adjustably mounted on and rising from the table parallel with the center plate and bed-plates and spacedaparttherefrom and the shapers mounted at the delivery ends of said side plates and center plate and projecting into the spaces between said plates.

10. In a brick-trimming machine, the combination of the table, the center plate thereon, the side plates formed with flanges transversely slotted, the screws traversing the slots of the flanges and seated in the table, the cross-bars connecting the upper edges of said plates and the shapers mounted on the rear ends of said plates and projected into the spaces between said plates.

11. In a brick-trimming machine, the combination of the table, the plates thereon and the shapers mounted at the delivery ends of said plates and projecting obliquely across the edges of the spaces between said plates.

12. In a brick-trimming machine, the combination of the table formed with upright flanges at its sides, the center plate rising from the central portion of said table, the side plates between said center plate and the fiangesofi the table, yielding-pressure devices interposed between said side plates and the flanges of the table and the shapers mounted on the side plates and center plate and projecting obliquely across the spaces between said plates.

13. In a brick-trimming machine, the cornbination of the table formed with upright flanges at its sides the center plate rising from the central portion of said table, the side plates between said center plate and the flanges of the table, yielding-pressure devices between said flanges and side plates, the adjustable screws acting in opposition to the yielding-pressure devices and the shapers mounted on the side plates and center plate the outer end thereof and the knife extend ing across said slot.

THEODORE M. WALKER. LOUIS H. WARREN.

Witnesses:

O. E.BYsKIT, S. 0. SWEET. 

